SNC Lavalin profit rises as services and packages business grows

March 8 (Reuters) - Canadian construction and engineering
company SNC Lavalin Group Inc reported a 24 percent
rise in fourth-quarter profit, helped by growth in its services
and packages business and it raised its dividend for the quarter
by 4.5 percent.

The company's net income attributable to shareholders rose
to C$94.6 million ($92 million), or 63 Canadian cents per share,
from C$76.0 million, or 50 Canadian cents per share, a year
earlier.

Net income excluding infrastructure concession investments
was C$24.2 million, compared with C$36.5 million a year earlier.

SNC has been at the center of an ethics and corruption
scandal for more than a year after it revealed it had uncovered
tens of millions of dollars in mysterious payments.